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But the reality is far less glamorous, according to "Young Money," a new book by journalist Kevin Roose who follows entry-level Wall Street analysts in their first two years at Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Credit Suisse (CS).
The truth, as Roose found out, is that these 22-year-olds' lives were less about big nights out and lavish lifestyles and far more centered around 100-hour work weeks, insecure bosses, crippling pressure and crises of conscience.
"A lot of people when they picture Wall Street they picture the 'Wolf of Wall Street,' people making a lot of money, driving fast cars, doing cocaine," Roose told CNNMoney. "It's not like that for the young people."
It's true that the analysts are paid upwards of $100,000 right out of college to work at some of the most prestigious banks in the world. It's also a fact that these jobs give them entry into the best business schools, private equity firms and hedge funds.
But all the money and opportunities come at a price: not seeing daylight for days on end, staying at work through the night only to do 30 to 40 revisions on one project, getting publicly screamed at for an errant comma or an incorrectly formatted spreadsheet.
Roose wrote that one Goldman analyst pondered if he'd be able to get off from work if he were hit by a car, and if the trade-off for a few broken limbs would be worth it.
Another had a countdown clock mounted in his bedroom, ticking down the number of days, minutes and seconds until his two years at the bank were up.
A Citigroup (C) analyst told Roose that when he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that required him to take time off for treatment, he worried that he would be "penalized for his weakness."
Two Goldman analysts even started plotting a "mass exodus of first-year analysts" called Wall Street Drop Day, during which everyone would announce they were leaving on the same day, and storm the Internet with their "horror stories." They even reserved the domain name wallstdropday.com in case it ever came to fruition.
"Their initial excitement about working at the most esteemed bank of Wall Street had quickly evaporated, and devastating depression had taken root," Roose wrote.
It wasn't just the long hours and pressure from higher-ups that weighed on the analysts. Roose found that some had a hard time grappling with the idea of working on Wall Street right after a global financial meltdown sparked by the actions of the same firms where they worked.
Particularly rankling for them was the Occupy Wall Street movement, which started in Zuccotti Park, in the heart of New York's financial district. Hundreds of young college graduates had joined the movement to protest against a system where large corporations, especially financial firms, hold the power to write rules that disproportionately benefit a rich minority.
"The young people I followed spent a tremendous amount of time doubting and questioning what they were being taught, and questioning whether they wanted to be in finance," Roose told CNNMoney. "Many of them would see the Occupy Wall Street protesters, who were about the same age as them, out of their work window, and they had a hard time believing they were on this side of it.
When I was in college in the '80s, my main focus in life was to become an investment banker. My dream was to work on Wall Street. Then I read an article in BusinessWeek about a scandal of sorts that was unfolding at Solomon Brothers over excessively long workweeks for employees. The CEO was directly quoted as saying (and I'm paraphrasing here since it's been so long) "I don't know what these people are complaining about. Wall Street has always been a miserable place to work. Everybody knows the deal; you come here, you work your a$$ off until you either have a heart attack, a stroke, or you make your $5 million. If you're lucky enough to make your $5 million, you get the hell out and start your new life."
(Mind you, back in the late '80s, $5 million back then was worth closer to $12 million today, and was considered by many to be the "magic number" for retirement.)
I don't think any of the above is a secret. Except the whole occupy Wall Street part. That became such a fringe movement, they were basically a running joke. I don't think anyone looked out the window and bought into what they were saying.
There's already way too much information regarding how life as a junior investment banking analyst is. I assume that the kids they interviewed actually read some of that while they were searching for interview questions and tips.
My wife is part of a housewife club in the Brooklyn heights-dumbo area. The richest house wife is the wife of a young hedge fund manager. Dude is in his 30s, makes enough to buy his own brownstone in Brooklyn heights without a mortgage. However the dude works insane hours, late nights and weekends, non stop. Wife is miserable and never sees the husband. She hangs out in the house all day with two dogs. I don't feel bad for them because he could probably retire early an live it up, while a sucker like me still has to work. If i had a time machine i would have picked business school instead of med school.
When I was in college in the '80s, my main focus in life was to become an investment banker. My dream was to work on Wall Street. Then I read an article in BusinessWeek about a scandal of sorts that was unfolding at Solomon Brothers over excessively long workweeks for employees. The CEO was directly quoted as saying (and I'm paraphrasing here since it's been so long) "I don't know what these people are complaining about. Wall Street has always been a miserable place to work. Everybody knows the deal; you come here, you work your a$$ off until you either have a heart attack, a stroke, or you make your $5 million. If you're lucky enough to make your $5 million, you get the hell out and start your new life."
(Mind you, back in the late '80s, $5 million back then was worth closer to $12 million today, and was considered by many to be the "magic number" for retirement.)
Anyway, it was a serious wake-up call for me.
Same here, but in the 90s. Wall Street has always had this reputation for as long as I remember. I remember when I was starting out in a much different field (and dirt poor), there were times where I'd tell myself how much I wished I had done things right, and had the connections, brains, and stamina to work on Wall St., if only to burn out after a few years but have the millions. Then I'd go on and do something else.
Did anyone think they were giving money away for free? You have to earn it. In the end, if you don't bring in a lot more money then they pay you, you're out on your a$$.
Did anyone think they were giving money away for free? You have to earn it. In the end, if you don't bring in a lot more money then they pay you, you're out on your a$$.
We're using the term "earn" loosely here.
But yes, you're right. You have to provide the firm value for your compensation.
Same here, but in the 90s. Wall Street has always had this reputation for as long as I remember. I remember when I was starting out in a much different field (and dirt poor), there were times where I'd tell myself how much I wished I had done things right, and had the connections, brains, and stamina to work on Wall St., if only to burn out after a few years but have the millions. Then I'd go on and do something else.
The problem, however, is that once you're "in the life", so to speak, you get a taste for living at that level. You are now used to the eight-figure lifestyle and all of its trappings. Despite the insane hours, you are used to 5,000 square foot apartments ... private schools and a personal nanny for each of your three kids ... dropping six figures for a car when you feel like it ... taking helicopters rather than facing either the LIE or the LIRR like the rest of us mere mortals to get out to your home in the Hamptons every weekend ... $1000 dinners ... and on and on and on.
Yes, if you've socked enough away, you can certainly walk away from that toxic work environment. But now their idea of "enough" is astronomical; $20 million for the vast majority of Americans would more more money than we could possibly need for the rest of our lives.
But the "vast majority" is used to living in modest homes, driving Chevys and Buicks, and sending their kids to public schools. THEY, however, are not, and after earning eight figures a year for so long, cannot fathom the idea of walking away with "just" $20 million in the bank, when they're living a lifestyle that requires an income of $20 million a year.
That, of course, is assuming they actually have millions of dollars in assets. The average person would be shocked to find out that outside of the properties they may own (if they're not mortgaged, which they quite often are), how many of these seven- and eight- figure earners are essentially broke; the millions come in, and the millions go right back out to support their lavish lifestyles. I know several people in this boat, and it's actually depressing to see how trapped these people really are in their toxic worlds, just one heart attack or bad deal away from their entire house of cards falling down.
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